"Europe is what member states make of it" - An assessment of the influence of nation states on the European Security and Defence Policy.

The European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) has since its inception in 1999 developed with enormous speed. The crucial role of the member states herein has been recognised in that both ESDP’s weaknesses and strengths are usually explained by their considerable influence. This thesis identifies, analyses, and compares the influence of France, Britain and Germany on the development and design of ESDP. To what extent have the three countries been able to shape ESDP according to their preferences? How did they proceed? These questions are addressed through a comparative analysis of the national agendas, the effective influence, and the mechanisms of influencing in three case studies representing key steps in ESDP development: the first institutions (1999/2000); the European Security Strategy (2003); and the Battlegroup concept (2003/2004). The analysis applies the concept of Europeanisation supported by policy analysis in order to grasp both, the uploading capacity of the countries as a process and the content wise result in form of ESDP. The analysis confirms that the three countries decisively directed ESDP’s development in institutional, strategic and material terms. The preferences, which they intentionally uploaded to the EU level, informed the final outcome in form of ESDP.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

d_ph

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

d_ph

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Birmingham

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Major, Claudia

• JZ International relations
• JN Political institutions (Europe)